Brazil is one of the top players of the gaming worldwide market. Naturally, this means that gaming conventions like Brasil Game Show are always regarded as one of the most highly anticipated events for enthusiasts and fans of the gaming sphere alike, offering a unique opportunity to explore upcoming games, enjoy a variety of attractions and hang out with your friends.
I recently attended the latest iteration of Brasil Game Show, the annual gaming convention that is held in São Paulo’s Expo Center Norte from October 11 to October 15, and here are my thoughts on it.
No PlayStation or Xbox Dedicated Booths?
Perhaps the one thing that caught my attention as soon as I got the event map in my hands as I entered my first day at BGS was the absence of dedicated booths for PlayStation and Xbox.
This is the second year in a row that Xbox has been absent, but this is the first time I’ve ever seen the complete absence of a dedicated booth for PlayStation. Sure, the map did have a couple of spots with their logo, but all it meant was that the particular demo build was being run on a PS5.
And this absence is doubly strange when you stop to consider that for a while, during Nintendo’s leave of Brazil in previous iterations of the event, not only were PlayStation and XBOX at BGS, but they were prominent, with giant-sized booths, and they were also side-by-side, which did earn some jokes on social media back in the day. Still, seeing the place where they used to be now devoid of their presence felt quite unnerving.
Nintendo Going at Full Steam
In comparison, however, Nintendo’s participation had an exciting lineup, featuring a demo version of Super Mario Bros. Wonder and various other recent Nintendo Switch releases, such as The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Detective Pikachu Returns. There was also a dedicated spot in their booth for Brazilian-developed games on the Switch.
Further, there were attractions for Just Dance 2024, where you could play on a big stage, and the My Nintendo checkpoint, where you could scan your Nintendo Account’s QR Code to get some mini acrylic standees from Super Mario Bros. Wonder. Attendees were also handed a stamp rally card, where if you played all of their games across the stand, you would gain some extra rewards, but I never managed to complete mine due to the queues.
A SEGA Booth!? With Many Games!?
Moving on, we had SEGA’s booth for the first time in…quite a while. Actually, in the many times I’ve been to BGS, I don’t think SEGA has ever been around with a dedicated booth. If you were looking to try out games early, then you were spoiled for choice, with Persona 3: Reload, Sonic Superstars, Persona 5 Tactica, the Special Trial Version of Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, and Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased his Name. Naturally, I queued up right away for Persona 3, and I must say that the demo played so smoothly that I can’t wait to get my hands on the full version.
The (Objectively) Best Booth: HoYoverse
And now, at the risk of sounding like a complete shill, let’s talk about the best booth, or at least, in my opinion: HoYoverse, because their booth was a standout in my experience. When they first made their appearance on last year’s BGS, they only had Genshin Impact and the (at the time) closed beta version of Honkai Star Rail, alongside a live stage. However, this time, the booth’s looks and presentation improved considerably, with a plethora of gaming PCs and laptops with Genshin Impact and Honkai Star Rail loaded on them.
Their booth also featured their upcoming Zenless Zone Zero, with a story demo, a boss challenge, and an interactive city exploration area for attendees to explore. Furthermore, the live activities on the stage were expanded, and there was one attraction for all three games: Genshin Impact, Star Rail, AND Zenless Zone Zero.
While I did not win the two times I was called to the stage, I still had a blast of fun answering Genshin Impact trivia questions and playing the games at their booth. Perhaps the only thing that I felt was missing was that there wasn’t any mention of Tears of Themis or even Honkai Impact 3rd, but it made sense for those three games to be the main focus since they’re the ones that get more attention, at least here in Brazil.
Logistical and Overcrowding Issues All-Around
Now, BGS is a huge convention. It covers the entirety of the expo center, but there was one annoying issue that I kept stumbling upon, and that was the logistics of the event.
Many of the booths had no proper markings that indicated the entrance or the exit or even where the queues began and ended. The lattermost caused plenty of confusion when it came to queueing for certain titles. HoYoverse did manage to remedy this somehow by placing handwritten signs, but you could absolutely tell that it was a last-minute decision.
The logistical troubles also persisted when it came to the special shuttle bus that took people in and out of the event. Every single time, the embarking point was different, and there were times when you could be waiting 30 minutes just for one bus to arrive. I strongly believe that there was a clear miscommunication and that the convention also clearly oversold tickets.
Yes. I understand. It’s the biggest gaming convention in all of Latin America, but when you can barely walk or even do anything past 3 PM, and you’re forced to rely on the more expensive passes just to do anything worthwhile, it’s just a nightmare. It would’ve been really nice if they brought back the reservation app from years ago, so you could book your time and then set a reminder on your smartphone to let you know when you’re up in the queue, allowing you to enjoy the event.
This overcrowding did ruin one of BGS’s beloved spots, which was Indie Avenue. As its name implies, it’s a row filled to the brim with indie projects, from single-man teams to even game developer college projects. It’s always a joy to get to see what budding developers have planned, and this year we saw a total of eighty indie games across 40 studios. Still, if you arrived anytime past 2 PM, which is still seven hours before the convention closes, you would be struggling to even walk a single step, and that’s because the space reserved for each of the indie developers is quite small.
A Great Balance of Console and PC Gaming
My experience at the latest iteration of the Brasil Game Show was great. While the absence of dedicated booths for PlayStation and Xbox was noticeable, Nintendo and SEGA’s presence added a fresh and also helped balance out the range between console and PC gaming, something the convention had struggled to do in some of its years.
However, the event needs to seriously improve the logistical side of management if it wants to proudly hold the title of Latin America’s biggest gaming convention, especially when it comes to beloved locations such as Indie Avenue. Still, I can’t wait to go back to the convention in 2024.
